Eastern Conference Preview: Crosby or no, Penguins team to beat in East

The Pittsburgh Penguins nearly caught the Flyers for the Atlantic Division title last season and did so without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the second half.

Think about that a second. No Crosby, no Malkin and one of the best records in the league anyway.

Malkin is healthy and primed for his best season yet. Marc-Andre Fleury is back in goal and Crosby, while still out with concussion-related symptoms, should be back soon, as he is practicing and traveling with the team.

With healthy superstars (Jordan Staal is completely healed, too), a heady coach, and general manager Ray Shero filling in around his best players with nice pieces, the Pens are poised for a long run in the spring after bowing out early the past two seasons.

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They'll play for the Cup by beating the Flyers in the Conference Finals, where they'll lose to San Jose (who we picked to win the West Wednesday over Los Angeles) when the Sharks take will finally take home the Cup.

Probably the most competitive division in the NHL, all five of these teams will have a shot at the postseason.

Aside from the aforementioned players, the Penguins have a nice collection of support players. James Neal, who was added at last season's deadline, is the kind of power forward who can put up big numbers playing with Crosby, which he didn't have a chance to do last season. Steve Sullivan was a smart pick-up in the summer. If he's healthy, he can pump in 20 goals or so. Tyler Kennedy and Chris Kunitz are nice pieces. Kris Letang is a talent on the blue line. They still have grit, too, in Matt Cooke and Arron Asham. This team has it all.

The Flyers are completely made over, and while they still have some deficiencies, especially at forward, they have one of the top defenses in the NHL and a star goalie in Ilya Bryzgalov. Expect the Flyers to be in the thick of race. Jaromir Jagr should be a lethal tandem with Claude Giroux. Watch for Matt Read: He could be a lot better than any of us ever thought.

The Rangers, who were always a grinding team playing good defense with an all-world goalie in Henrik Lundqvist, should see a spike in offensive production with the addition of Brad Richards to pair with Marian Gaborik.

The Devils were one of the best teams in the NHL in the second half of last season. Too bad they were the worst in the first half. With Zach Parise healthy, Martin Brodeur giving it one more go before he rides off into the sunset and Ilya Kovalchuk expecting to be more like himself, New Jersey will again be a contender.

The Islanders are vastly improved. Their offense is young and talented, and they'll have Kyle Okposo healthy to play with John Tavares, Matt Moulson and Michael Grabner. Mark Streit is healthy on the blue line. If they can solve the goalie carousel of Rick DiPietro, Al Montoya and Evgeni Nabokov, watch out.

Northeast Division

1. Buffalo*, 2. Boston*, 3. Montreal, 4. Toronto, 5. Ottawa

The Bruins are the defending Cup champs, but the Sabres have an owner who is hell-bent on winning a Stanley Cup. They rebuilt their defense by adding Christian Ehrhoff and Robyn Regehr and spending big to add former Flyer Ville Leino to a quality collection of skill forwards. Oh, and they still have Ryan Miller, one of the best goalies in the world.

Boston will be the big, bad Bruins again, but there is the hangover factor. Mark Recchi, Tomas Kaberle and Michael Ryder are gone and weren't really replaced. Tim Thomas can't replicate his amazing 2010-11 season, can he?

Montreal continues to be an undersized team with an all-world goalie ... and not much else. The signing of Erik Cole will help in the hard-nose department and Carey Price is a stud in goal, but this team is lacking in a lot of areas.

Toronto is a mess and hasn't made the playoffs since the lockout. That's not all G.M. Brian Burke's fault as he was handed a team in shambles, but adding Tim Connolly, Matthew Lombardi and John-Michael Liles won't be enough to end that drought.

Here's a mortal lock -- Ottawa is the worst team in the NHL. If you're looking for anything redeeming, it has a lot of young kids playing -- especially on the blue line. Watch Erik Karlsson, David Rundblad and Jared Cowen. They'll be staples in the future.

Southeast Division

1. Washington*, 2. Tampa Bay*, 3. Florida, 4. Carolina, 5. Winnipeg

The Capitals got away from their own identity as an offensive dynamo last season to try to become more defensive-minded. Didn't work. So it's back on the attack, damn the torpedoes. They can do that now that they have a solid goalie in veteran Tomas Vokoun.

Tampa Bay surprised everyone last season, but it's not sneaking up this time around. There's still a world of talent with Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier. Victor Hedman is a hammer in the making on the blue line. But the goalie, Dwayne Roloson, is 463 years old, and Tampa Bay was unable to replace free agents Sean Bergenheim and Simon Gagne.

Florida may finally end the playoff drought that is at a league-record 10 years. G.M. Dale Tallon, who turned the Chicago Blackhawks into a Stanley Cup champion, started his makeover with former Flyers Scottie Upshall and Kris Versteeg among a dozen new players.

The Hurricanes will take their usual perch in the middle of the pack and hover around the final playoff spot. They haven't changed much, making Kaberle and Alexei Ponikarovsky their biggest offseason acquisitions. Brian Boucher will take a load off Cam Ward, who played too worn down last season.

In Winnipeg -- they have a team. That's about as exciting as it gets for the Jets. The fans up north might be thrilled to have hockey again, but let's not forget this is basically the same Atlanta Thrashers team that emitted a fetid stench last season. Zach Bogosian is a nice prospect on a wretched blue line. First round pick Mark Scheifele could be one to watch as a top rookie in the league.